We compiled these trends from over 100 brands, comparing year-over-year data for the date range May 1, 2025, to May 31, 2025.
May 2025: Engagement Up, Conversions Lag
Retailers experienced encouraging year-over-year growth this May, with increases in sessions, orders, and overall demand. These trends point to heightened consumer interest and engagement across many brands compared to the same period last year.
However, this increase in engagement did not translate into proportional sales growth. Conversion rates declined for many, with a particularly noticeable dip in the days following Memorial Day. Consumers are showing increased price sensitivity and broader economic caution. To better convert rising traffic into sales, brands are reevaluating their strategies, placing greater emphasis on optimizing the customer journey and aligning offers more closely with evolving consumer expectations.
Despite these conversion challenges, the broader economic landscape in May offered some positive signals. Consumer confidence rebounded from April levels, indicating improved sentiment regarding personal finances and the overall economy. The U.S. stock market also posted strong gains, potentially boosting spending power, particularly among higher-income households. Additionally, favorable developments in trade policy may help stabilize supply chains and support business growth.
Taken together, these indicators suggest a cautiously optimistic outlook. While economic and political uncertainty persist and conversion rates remain an area of concern, the underlying growth in demand and improving economic indicators offer hope for potential gains in the months ahead.
May 2025 Marketing Trends
Trend #1: How Can Brands Respond to Lower Conversion Rates?
Many brands are finding it increasingly challenging to drive conversions. Online conversion rates declined from an average of 2.24% in May 2024 to 1.99% in May 2025, a 0.25 percentage point decrease. While a few days in early May showed slight improvements, they were outweighed by lower conversion rates later in the month. Most of the decline occurred in the second half of May, with 18 days showing a drop greater than 0.3%.
How can brands respond to declining conversion rates?
Audit Mid-to-Late May Campaigns
- Compare messaging, targeting, and traffic sources to May 2024.
- Evaluate promotions and value propositions against competitors and previous years.
Re-engage Returning Users
- Analyze returning users, particularly those who did not convert.
- Consider retargeting campaigns or personalized offers to re-engage and reactivate existing customers.
Segment Performance Analysis
- Break down conversion rates by traffic source (organic, paid, email, etc.) and device type.
- Identify shifts in user behavior (e.g., bounce rate, time on site) to uncover underperforming segments.
A/B Test Key Pages
- Run A/B tests on landing pages with high traffic but low conversion in May 2025 to identify optimization opportunities.
Trend #2: Integrating Postcards and Direct Mail into the Customer Journey
In an increasingly digital landscape, physical touchpoints like postcards and direct mail offer brands a powerful way to stand out and deepen customer engagement. When strategically integrated into the customer journey, these tactile channels can drive conversions, build loyalty, and reactivate lapsed customers.
For first-time buyers, a well-timed postcard can reinforce brand trust and encourage repeat purchases. A personalized thank-you note, or a follow-up offer delivered by mail adds a human touch that digital channels often lack. This physical reminder keeps the brand top-of-mind and can significantly increase customer lifetime value.
Direct mail is also highly effective for reactivation campaigns. Dormant customers often ignore emails. However, a compelling postcard, featuring a limited-time offer or personalized message, can reignite interest. With modern data tools, brands can segment audiences and trigger mail based on behavior, such as time since last purchase or cart abandonment.
Moreover, direct mail integrates seamlessly with digital strategies. QR codes, personalized URLs, and trackable phone numbers allow marketers to measure response rates and accurately attribute ROI. When used in tandem with email, SMS, and social media, direct mail enhances omnichannel cohesion and reinforces messaging across touchpoints.
In a world of fleeting digital impressions, postcards and direct mail offer a tangible, memorable experience. For marketing executives seeking to optimize the customer journey, these tools are not just nostalgic; they’re strategic.
Trend #3: Tactile Branding: The Feel That Seals the Deal
In an era dominated by digital screens, the physicality of direct mail offers a powerful, and often underutilized, branding opportunity: touch. Tactile branding leverages the sensory experience of print to create emotional connections, enhance recall, and drive consumer action.
Why Touch Matters
Retailers are rediscovering the value of texture, weight, and finish in their mail pieces. A soft-touch coating, embossed logo, or heavyweight cardstock doesn’t just look premium, it feels premium. That sensory cue can subconsciously signal quality, trust, and attention to detail, influencing how recipients perceive the brand. Studies show that physical touch activates the brain’s somatosensory cortex, making tactile experiences more memorable than digital ones.
USPS Incentives
The U.S. Postal Service is encouraging this trend through its 2025 Tactile, Sensory & Interactive Mail Piece Promotion, offering a 5% postage discount for eligible First-Class and Marketing Mail campaigns that incorporate tactile elements like textured papers, scent, sound, or interactive folds. This incentive not only reduces costs but also rewards creativity and innovation in print.
Creative Applications
Tactile branding opens the door to creative storytelling. Think textured paper that mimics fabric for a fashion brand, or a scratch-and-sniff element for a gourmet food retailer. These small touches can turn a simple postcard into a multisensory brand moment. As digital fatigue grows, the tangible becomes a differentiator.
Trend #4: The Rise of the “Three-in-One-Economy”
Why Multifunctionality is the New Luxury
What’s Happening
In 2025, consumers are embracing products that do more—combining form, function, and flexibility. From skincare that doubles as makeup to appliances that serve triple duty, versatility is the new status symbol. Blame inflation. Or hybrid living. Or the dopamine rush of optimization. Either way, more people are asking: “What else can this do for me?”
The shift, dubbed the “three-in-one” economy, reflects a desire for self-optimization in the face of economic uncertainty and hybrid lifestyles.
Why It Matters
Value-conscious doesn’t mean cheap. It means intentional. Multifunctional products promise simplicity, savings, and a smarter life—and that hits hard with Gen Z and millennial shoppers. The brands winning in this space aren’t just offering utility—they’re telling a story of empowerment and efficiency.
The “lipstick effect” is also at play, where consumers indulge in small luxury purchases that offer multiple benefits.
J.Schmid POV
We’ve said it before: creativity drives commerce. But in this economy, versatility closes the deal. Brands that communicate how their product fits more moments in life create deeper desire and stronger sales. Don’t just sell a product. Sell a better way to live.
What to do
Innovate, Strategize, and Collaborate. Innovate products that meet this increasing consumer demand for multiple functions. Implement a marketing strategy that highlights these multifunctional aspects in your campaigns, and collaborate with influencers who fit within your brand lifestyle to gain further awareness.
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Marketing KPIs: May 2025 Trends by Industry
Marketing KPIs: May 2025 Trends by Company Revenue
$100M+ | $15M-$100M | $0-$15M
Marketing KPIs: May 2025 Trends by Industry
Apparel Industry
Apparel brands saw sessions rise +15.42%, orders increase +6.20%, and demand grow +3.11% compared to last May. Traffic growth was strong; however, the smaller gains in orders and demand point to conversion challenges. While there was a Memorial Day boost, the second half of May was soft for many apparel brands.
Apparel and fashion retailers should evaluate mid-to-late May campaign performance and consider retargeting high-intent visitors who didn’t convert.
Home Brands
Home brands experienced strong year-over-year growth in May 2025, with website sessions increasing by +6.51%, with strong gains in orders up +18.91%, and demand up +16.59%. Home goods and furnishings outperformed furniture.
Not only were more consumers browsing, but they were also more willing to purchase, suggesting effective promotions and improved conversion. For home brands, the challenge now lies in sustaining momentum.
Outdoor Brands
In May, outdoor brands saw sessions up +22.23%, orders up +3.07% and demand increase +13.24% year-over-year. Despite lower conversion rates, higher average order values helped outdoor brands achieve solid demand growth.
Focusing on improving conversion rates while maintaining high average order values, will be particularly important for outdoor retailers in the coming months.
Specialty Retailers
May sessions were up +5.23% for specialty brands. However, compared to last year, orders were down -5.32%, and demand was down -6.36%. Despite a slight increase in sessions, the decline in both orders and demand points to tightening discretionary spending.
Specialty brands, which often cater to niche or luxury interests, are particularly vulnerable when shoppers prioritize essentials or seek greater value. Brands should emphasize value, exclusivity, or utility in their messaging and consider limited-time offers or bundling strategies to encourage conversion.
Marketing KPIs: May 2025 Trends by Company Revenue
Tier 1 Brands
Tier 1 brands saw an uptick in sessions and orders in May. Sessions increased +3.03% compared to last year. Order growth also rebounded, up +2.76% following a -5.10% drop in April. While Tier 1 brands largely maintained conversion rates, demand was down -10.22%. This suggests that larger brands are facing increased competition and were highly promotional in May.
Tier 2 Brands
Tier 2 brands continued to drive session growth in May, with sessions up +11.90%. However, many brands faced challenges converting those sessions into orders. Compared to May last year, orders dipped by 0.67% and demand was down by 2.08%.
Medium-sized Tier 2 brands saw a larger decrease in conversion rates than larger Tier 1 and smaller Tier 3 brands. Possibly due to lower promotional effectiveness and/or mismatch between consumers and value proposition or product offering.
Tier 3 Brands
Tier 3 brands showed strong momentum in May, with sessions up +16.67%, indicating growing consumer interest. This surge in traffic translated into a +6.04% increase in orders and a +15.46% rise in demand compared to the same period last year.
Unlike Tier 2 brands, Tier 3 brands appeared more successful in converting traffic into transactions, possibly due to more targeted offerings, stronger promotional alignment, or better resonance with value-conscious consumers.